J.J. Richards

DCI Walker and PC Briggs work together to investigate a suspicious death that eventually becomes a bigger case than they expected. The story maintains a regular pace throughout and switches between different characters, giving readers an overall view of the investigation, as well as an in-depth background behind the main characters, such as Briggs's motivation for joining the police force and Walker's home life.


I received a free copy and am leaving a review voluntarily.
Thank you to Booksprout, Hidden Gems Books, Booksirens and author.… (lisätietoja)

I feel this author still has his L plates on. This was very much a work in progress. There are a whole lot of rookie errors, the worst being that the services of a good editor must have been completely overlooked. Grammatical errors were rife, as were spelling errors (here, here for 'hear, hear' and broach for the jewellery accessory 'brooch' amongst the many), two characters had momentary name changes and the continual use of the very incorrect 'was stood' and 'was sat' wore me down. Add to that the inexplicable use of Americanisms (gotten, math, meter) and, well...

And that's just for starters. DCI Walker and PC Briggs pair up to solve a seemingly ritualistic murder(s) and one that has alarming similarities to a cold case of particular interest to Walker. The irritating thing was Richards insisted on referring to Walker and Briggs and all their colleagues constantly with their titles. The reader is well aware of their positions by about the third or fourth reference, so the constant use of them was very tedious.

Although the dialogue is bland and awkward and sometimes a bit inane, the plot had legs until the rather silly and unbelievable ending.

Not a satisfying read and a very poorly edited one.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.… (lisätietoja)

DCI Jonathan Walker is returning to work after a long sick leave. A body is found from a local icehouse. On the forehead of the body is a cross of ash, the same symbol that was on the forehead of Walker's little sister when she was killed over thirty years ago. Soon there is another body and then a girl goes missing. Walker needs to catch the killer and find out if they are behind his sisters murder also.

This is a good police procedural set in Lancashire. Lots of interesting characters and dogs too. PC Briggs, who was partnered with Walker for her excellent people skills despite the lack of experience, was my favorite character. Walker is haunted by the trauma of what happened to his sister and also his deteorating health. I did not connect with him at all, but he seems like a decent character.

The writing style was nice, but clumsy at places. Sometimes the word order seemed wrong, perhaps being charasteristic to that particular area of England? The story is told from the viewpoint of several characters and the chapters are just the right length to keep things interesting.

I thank the author and LibraryThing Early Reviewers for a copy of this book.… (lisätietoja)